WARC DISCOVERIES

The European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission and the search for the organic remnants of life on Mars

With a launch planned in 2013, the European Space Agency’s Aurora ExoMars mission will seek evidence of organic compounds on the surface of Mars and attempt to distinguish those that were produced by life on Mars and those that might reflect delivery from comets and asteroids. As discussed by WARC member Pascale Ehrenfreund and her colleagues in a new publication in the journal Astrobiology, one of the innovative approaches that will be used on ExoMars will rely on immunoassays to detect specific organic molecules through antibody production. Successful detection of indigenous organic molecules will require drilling 2-3 m below the surface of Mars to penetrate the zone of extreme oxidation that exists on the surface of Mars, much deeper than the ~10 cm depths sampled by Viking. Research efforts prior to launch in 2013 will focus on identifying the range of biomarkers that will inventoried and development of the analytical protocols that will be needed on ExoMars.

Citation:
Parnell, J, Cullen, D, Sims, MR, Bowden, S, Cockell, C, Court, R, Ehrenfreund, P, Gaubert, F, Grant, W, Parro, V, Rohmer, M, Sephton, M, Stan-Lotter, H, Steele, A, Toporski, J, and Vago, J (2007)  Searching for life on Mars: Selection of molecular targets for the ESA Aurora ExoMars mission. Astrobiology 7:578-604. A PDF copy of the paper can be found here.

Posted January 11, 2008